The present disclosure relates to storage bins, such as agricultural storage bins for storing grains and other commodities. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to bin sweeps for use in storage bins.
Storage bins for grain and other commodities, such as salt, fertilizer, and the like, are used in a variety of agricultural and industrial applications. Such bins often have circular footprints, and thus are generally cylindrical in shape, but other bin footprints are also employed. It is known for cylindrical grain bins to have a bin clean-out system including an in-floor auger with a central inlet and an outlet outside of the bin. A bin sweep is typically connected to the in-floor auger so that as the bin sweep passes through the grain bin, grain is driven toward the inlet of the in-floor auger to be removed from the grain bin.
Some grain bins are quite large in diameter. Because of the large distances between opposing bin walls, such large grain bins may include one or more tower structures or uprights disposed in the center of the grain bin to support the roof of the grain bin. However, such tower structures effectively prevent bin sweeps from being mounted on single central pivot axes because the tower structure would interfere with movement of the grain sweep. Additionally, the large dimensions of such grain bins may require multiple passes to drain the stored grains in order to maintain the structural integrity of the walls of the large grain bins.